Peeta not Katniss
by Sally97
Summary: What if Peeta was saved from the 75th Hunger Games arena, and not Katniss?
1. Chapter 1

**Title: Peeta not Katniss**

**A/N: This is my very first Hunger Games fanfic and I have spent ages on this story. So please be gentle on you comments. I do not own the rights to the Hunger Games books; they belong to the brilliant Suzanne Collins. Enjoy! :)**

_**A Cannon sounds.**_

Something has gone wrong with the plan. The wire has come back to the tree in loops, like someone has cut it. I start running in the general direction that Katniss and Johanna went, ignoring the shouts from around me telling me to stop. Nothing matters, except Katniss. It has been an hour since they left.

"Katniss!" I yell, not caring if any other tributes hear me. I no longer care if I die, as long as I see her face one more time. So I yell louder.

"Katniss!" I have to find her. I should have listened to her, this morning, and left the pack. We wouldn't be in this situation; we wouldn't be separated. I have been running for a while, when I hear...

"Peeta!" she screams, from far away. It sounds like she is back near the lightning tree, so I turn around. She sounds like she is in pain. I'm now running as fast as I can.

"Peeta! I'm here! Peeta!" I dodge a tree, and jump over a branch. "I'm here! I'm here!" she calls. She sounds so frantic! I'm running faster than I have ever run in my life!

Suddenly I see a figure in the dark.

Brutus.

I stop running and pull out my knife. He is bent over the lifeless body of Chaff. He hasn't seen me. It's him or me. If I just run around him that's another person stopping Katniss from making it out alive. If I kill him, she is one step closer. It's decided. I throw my knife at his back. He drops to the floor, dead.

"Peeta!" I start running again. I can reach her! I can save her from whatever is there!

"Katniss!" Two cannons have sounded. That leaves Enobaria, Johanna, Beetee, Finnick and Katniss. We can do this! She is going to come out alive! I'm almost at the place where I heard her yell. But then, the lightning strikes the tree, marking the hour of twelve o'clock.

But something happens to the tree. It lights up. The energy knocks me over. Blood pours down my face, from a wound to the head I just received from the tree I was blown into. The dome above me glows a brilliant blue for a split second, and I can see Finnick and another person lying on the ground. The earth explodes into a shower of dirt and plant matter. Trees burst into flames. Even the sky fills with brightly coloured blossoms of light; fireworks.

What just happened?

Whatever it was, I have to find Katniss and get out of here! But my head feels so sore. A hovercraft appears above me, and without warning a claw drops from the underside until it's directly overhead. Then the metal talons slide under me. I blackout, with the hopes that Katniss is save.

I open my eyes. Where am I? I know I'm not in the arena….. but that means?

Oh no! "Katniss!" I yell out. But then my head hurts too badly, and I blackout again. I wake up in a white, clean smelling room. A beeping sound comes from a machine near me. I look around. I'm alone, except for a bed made up like mine, but with no one in it. What happened back there? Where am I? And where is Katniss? Well, we aren't in the arena. That dome, that exploded, must have been the force field. Which means that we are in the Capitol, about to be tortured, killed or worse!

I get up off my bed, and limp to the door, my leg stiff from no moving. The door is unlocked. I tread out, into the corridor. Katniss must be around here somewhere. Then I hear talking coming from a room. I creep down a narrow hallway to a metal door that stands slightly ajar.

"Communications are down in Seven, Ten, and Twelve. But Eleven has control of transportation now, so there's at least a hope of them getting some food out." Someone says. Then a hoarse voiced person speaks, but I can't make out the words.

"No, I'm sorry. There's no way I can get you to Four. But I've given special orders for her retrieval if possible. It's the best I can do, Finnick." The hoarse voice, which must be Finnick, says something again.

"Don't be stupid. That's the worst thing you could do. Get her killed for sure. As long as you're alive, they'll keep her alive for bait," says Haymitch. I walk calmly through the doors. Haymitch, Plutarch Heavensbee and Finnick all look up at me, from their untouched lunch. Haymitch pulls out a chair in between him and Finnick. "Sit." He says.

I sit.

"What happened?" I say, staring at the food on the plate that Plutarch places in front of me.

Haymitch explains that there was a plan to break us out of the arena from the moment the Quell was announced. The victor tributes from 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, and 11 had varying degrees of knowledge about it. Plutarch Heavensbee has been, for several years, part of an undercover group aiming to overthrow the Capitol. He made sure the wire was among the weapons. Beetee was in charge of blowing a hole in the force field. The bread we received in the arena was code for the time of the rescue. The district where the bread originated indicated the day. Three. The number of rolls the hour. Twenty-four. The hovercraft belongs to District 13. We are currently on our way to District 13. Meanwhile, most of the districts in Panem are in full-scale rebellion.

I slowly take it all in. The one thing I hated the most, was being played as a fool.

"Why didn't you let me and Katniss in on the plan?" I snap at Haymitch.

"Katniss was the head of the rebellion, and so are you. While one of you lives, so does the rebellion."

"What do you mean 'while one of us lives?' Where is Katniss?" Haymitch shifts uncomfortably. Purposefully not looking at me.

"Where is she?" I whisper, my heart sinking. "Where is Katniss, Haymitch!" I yell at him.

"The only people we could get to after the force field blew up, were Beetee, Finnick and you. Katniss was taken after she shot the arrow, but before the lightning even struck. Johanna and Enobaria were taken too."

"Finnick picked up this before he got on the hovercraft," Haymitch holds something out to me. "I guess she wanted you to have it." My eyes fill up with tears as I look at the pearl. I reach out for it, and Hatmitch places it on my hand.

I look up at Finnick, "thank you." He nods.

"She did love you, you know." Haymitch says. I start to say no, but then I remember near the start of the Games when she cried when I died, then Finnick brought me back. And all the other times, like when we kissed on the beach.

When we danced at those silly parties, at the capitol, when we did the Victory Tour.

When we spent the day on the roof of the training building, having a picnic.

When she was given sleep syrup and she told me to stay with her, and I whispered Always.

But I'm not with her now. I didn't keep her save. I should have listened to her, and left the pack that morning. I shouldn't have left her with Johanna. I was supposed to keep her safe. I was supposed to make sure that she came home, and not me. I failed her.

"I love her too." I whisper. Hoping that she could hear me, and know that I will ALWAYS love her.

**A/N: I hope you liked the start of this fanfic! Remember to review! :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Title: Peeta not Ketniss**

**A/N: Enjoy the new chapter! :)**

"WE HAVE TO GET HER BACK!" I yelled.

I was standing in the underground city of District 13, in the room called Command. There were quite a few people were sitting at the table, discussing the future of the rebellion. Coin, the president of District 13, was the leader of this rebellion. She was sitting at the head of the table not really saying much. Pultarch Heavensbee and Finnick were there, but Haymitch was too depressed to come. I hadn't really seen him since I got here, but then again, I had only been here for about two weeks. Haymitch was obviously going through withdrawal of alcohol. But I knew that he was also worried about Katniss. I have been in the hospital since I got here, and I only got out yesterday. My head was hit pretty badly, and I get really bad head aches sometimes. Katniss' little sister, Prim, kept visiting me. We would talk about random stuff, like life before Katniss and I were picked as tributes for the 74th Hunger Games. Prim told me about when Katniss was little, and how they played together. Having someone to talk to was great... all of my family died in the bombing of District 12.

The only family I have left is Katniss.

But the Capitol took her away from me too.

I love her.

"Peeta, we are trying our best to figure a way to rescue her. But you have to be patient!" Plutrach tells me soothingly. I'm pacing the room. They had started talking, when the double doors burst open and Gale walks in. He was the one who led hundreds of people out of District 12, when the bombs went off. Gale kept them alive in the woods for three days until they got picked up by a hovercraft and taken to 13.

"Sorry I'm late. I was with Beetee down in Special Defense." Gale says as he sits down. As the talk starts up again, I walk back over to my chair next to Finnick, and sit down. Only to get up and start pacing the room again. I pull out the pearl, that I gave Katniss on the beach, and rub it along my hand, thinking.

"We still need a leader though." Coin says slowly, "Katniss isn't here, is she? But we still need a Mockingjay. Someone, who can bring the districts together. Someone with experience of how cruel the Capitol really is. Someone, who can use the power of their words to rally the rebels into a unified force. Some, like you, Peeta."

All eyes are on me.

"What can I do?" I say, staring at the pearl. "Katniss was the strong one. She was the one who practically started the rebellion. Not me She volunteered for Prim, she held out the berries, she blew up the force field, she could make the Mockingjays stop, to listen to her sing, she could shoot an arrow. _She_ could rally the districts. Not me." Tears were streaming down my face.

As I wiped them away, I looked up at the people around the room.

Many had tears in their eyes.

"_She_ needs you to help her win this war." Gale says quietly, looking down. "_She_ needs you to save her."

**A/N: Sorry this chapter was so short, the next few will be longer hopefully! :) Please remember to review!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Title: Peeta not Katniss Chapter 3**

**A/N: Sorry, but this is another short chapter. The next one will be longer :)**

I woke with a yell.

"My nightmares are usually about losing you. But I'm alright once I know that you're here." I whisper to myself, in the darkness of my apartment in District 13. "But you're not here anymore." I sigh, remembering the time when Katniss and I got through the parade of nightmares each night.

I share my apartment with Finnick, but he is still in the hospital. He has gone a bit unstable. Annie Cresta, the woman that Maggs volunteered for, was the love of Finnick's life. But the Capitol has her now, and Finnick is... well, he isn't copping. I get up from my bed and get the pearl, that I gave Katniss in the arena. Whenever I haven't been able to sleep, or have woken up from a nightmare about Katniss, I rub the pearl along my lip.

It's soothing.

I lean over to the table next to my bed and grab the piece of rope Finnick gave me. He told me that making notes was his way of holding on to his sanity. And lately it's taken all my strength not to fall to pieces. Sometimes painting works too. The other night I woke up in a sweat, and I couldn't stop shaking until I had finished drawing. It was a picture of Katniss lying in the sand, on the beach in the arena. She was asleep and her hair was spread out behind her head. She looked so peaceful.

I keep the picture in my draw with the rope and the pearl. I keep thinking about what Coin said about me being able to rally the districts and become the Mockingjay. I don't think I can do it. It was Katniss' job to do it. _We have to rescue her! _That should be our main priority. To save the _real _Mockingjay!

But then, Gale said that to save her, I have to become the Mockingjay.

Maybe...

The next morning I went to the hospital to have breakfast with Finnick and Prim. We did this most mornings. Prim helps Finnick quite a bit. She talks with him, like she does for me. Being able to talk to someone about the horror of the Games is amazing. Prim just listens as Finnick and I talk. Sometimes she gets us to tell her about what Katniss did in the arena, what motivated her to do things. Prim had to watch the Hunger Games, but Katniss never gave the audience a show.

Now that I think about it, Katniss only ever did what she thought would keep us alive. She never gave into the Hunger Games. Katniss never became just a piece in their game...

"I'll do it!" I say as I burst through the doors of Command.

All eyes are on me. Coin looks at me blankly, but I can see the greed and power in her eyes. She thinks I'll be easy to control. She thinks I'm just a baker from District 12. Well, she is in for one hell of a surprise.

"Good." Says Coin.

"But, I have some requests." I could see the slight change in her eyes, telling me that she didn't expect I would have demands.

"Fine. What are they?" She says curtly.

"No matter what happens, Katniss is to be returned to her family, alive Even if the Capital forces her to do things during the war that are considered threatening towards us. She is to be pardoned for her crimes, along with Annie Cresta and any other surviving Victors." Talk erupts from the people in Command .But the only faces I look to for approval are Gale, Finnick and Haymitch, who is actually here for once. Gale looks straight at me, and nods his support, Finnick gives an almost normal smile and Haymitch mimes 'Good job, but keep going!'

"ALSO!" I yell to get their attention again.

"We are going to the Capitol to save Katniss, Annie, Johanna, and any other surviving Victors."

This new request is met with uproar.

**A/N: Ooooh Badass Peeta being badass! :) remember to review! **


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